Tony Bellew has given his final prediction for the intriguing showdown between Joseph Parker and Fabio Wardley this weekend.
For Wardley – who came up through the white collar scene – this is a chance to truly make a mark on the heavyweight division. Until now, he has been rising fast with victories over Frazer Clarke, David Adeleye and Justis Huni last time out.
Parker, on the other hand, is a former WBO champion who has been in with almost all of the top names to prove he has power, defensive nous and fitness to give any man a tough night’s work.
In his last three, he has beaten Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang and Martin Bakole and was the first person to take Anthony Joshua the full 12 rounds back when ‘AJ’ was a destructive force.
Speaking to Football Blog, former cruiserweight world champion Bellew sided with the more experienced Parker, though he did give Wardley a puncher’s chance.
“I think Joseph Parker will be too much on the night. Don’t get me wrong, I did say before, of course, Fabio has a puncher’s chance, but believe you me, he won’t be winning at any stage in that fight.
“He’ll be losing round after round, because Joseph Parker just knows that little bit too much and is that little bit too savvy, in my opinion and I think it’ll be a points victory, possibly even at late stoppage to Joseph Parker, because he punches harder than people think as well.”
